Battelle earns over $12 million for performance at Richland lab. Here’s its report card
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory received high marks for its performance in fiscal 2022, earning Battelle, the contractor that operates and manages the lab, $12.13 million in incentive pay.
For the fourth year in a row it will be paid 97% of the maximum fee available.
“PNNL is once again a top-performing lab, with our many sponsors lauding our scientific discover, technological innovation, programmatic leadership, and management and operations,” said Steve Ashby, director of the Department of Energy laboratory, in Richland, Wash., in a message to employees Thursday.
He called the evaluation “exceptional.”
The DOE Office of Science issues the annual performance report, but it also relies on input from other agencies and DOE offices that provided some of PNNL’s $1.34 billion in funding in fiscal 2022, which ended in September.
Other agencies that rely on PNNL range from the Department of Homeland Security to the National Institutes of Health to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The lab employs about 5,700, the majority of them based in Richland to make the lab the largest single employer in the Tri-Cities area.
The laboratory is graded in eight areas, but the most weight in the assessment is given to meeting science and technology goals. PNNL excelled in those, receiving two As and an A-.
Other grades ranged from B+ for leadership to grades from B+ to A- for management and operations, making it one of the top performers among the 10 Office of Science laboratories, plus the Oak Ridge, Tenn., Institute for Science and Education. No overall grade for each laboratory is calculated.
“We are really pleased with Battelle’s overall performance this fiscal year and we are looking forward to the year to come,” said Ted Pietrok, acting manager of the DOE Office of Science’s Pacific Northwest Site Office in Richland.
Battelle, a not-for-profit corporation, invests some of its earnings back into the greater Tri-Cities area each year. Contributions support STEM education, performing and visual arts, and human services, such as food banks.
PNNL excels
PNNL was commended in the evaluation for “field-leading achievements” in basic energy sciences and praised for new ideas in climate science and carbon management.
It also rated well in its energy and environment work, with DOE highlighting its national leadership in electric grid modernization, energy storage and lightweight materials for vehicles.
The primary sponsors of it national security work each gave PNNL the highest scores possible and praised it for serving as a “trusted and valued partner” in homeland security and praised its “scientific leadership across the national security complex.”
The review also complimented the lab for its assistance in nuclear monitoring and grid resilience to war torn Ukraine.
The lab excelled in creative approaches to retention and recruiting and DOE also noted its creation of a hybrid workplace that serves as a model to others, Ashby told employees.
The annual review also said PNNL showed “outstanding leadership” in growing its future science and technology workforce through STEM education programs.
PNNL to improve
“While our evaluation was exceptional, we can always improve,” Ashby said in his memo.
The annual review called for improvement of documentation and internal controls related to transportation and property management programs, financial management programs and the licensing of intellectual property.
Battelle’s licensing of battery technology developed by PNNL using taxpayer money led to a DOE review in 2022.
It concluded that Battelle violated no law or policies, but that it “failed to communicate the potential political and legal risks to DOE in a timely manner, ultimately resulting in negative consequences to DOE and PNNL’s reputation,” according to a DOE review of the battery licensing.
